


The Last Day on Earth

by orphan_account



Category: Ylvis
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen, Terminal Illnesses, bro feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 22:24:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He noticed it one day. One little symptom that sent his world crashing down around him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Last Day on Earth

He noticed it one day. Sat in yet another interview with someone who appeared to have done little to no research on the two of them before the interview, Vegard noticed how Bård, on more than one occasion failed to form the words that he was trying to say. On his third attempt at saying the word “surprise,” Vegard cut in. These interviews were always pretty much the same, anyway, and it seemed that Bård had become tired of saying the same old answers over and over.

 

“What happened in there?” Vegard asked his brother on their journey home in Vegard’s car.

 

Bård shrugged, “I’ve got a headache. Thanks for taking over, by the way,” he added. Vegard stole a glance at his brother, who appeared to be frowning from the brightness of the road ahead of them. He looked much paler than he usually did.

 

“You look like you should be curled up in bed,” Vegard added.

 

Bård shrugged, “too much stuff to do,” he said bluntly.

 

“You wont achieve much if you’ve got a headache that bad,” Vegard replied. Bård always ignored when he was sick. He tended to work himself too hard; contrary to his friend’s opinions.

 

Bård laughed slightly he got out of the car. “See you Friday,” he said, slamming the door, leaving Vegard to drive home alone.

 

A few days passed, and Vegard had very little contact with his little brother. Spending much of the time with his wife and children, the days passed quickly. Before he knew it, it was Friday and the rehearsals for the new series of I Kveld Med Ylvis were about to begin.

 

Vegard read the script alone in the office. Bård was nowhere to be seen. Late as usual, Vegard thought to himself. To pass the time, he began to imitate his brother’s voice, whilst reading the script aloud.

 

“I see I’m not needed!” a voice said suddenly, making Vegard jump. Bård laughed. It seemed different to his usual laugh, but Vegard could hardly explain why. He watched as his younger brother slowly moved towards the seat opposite Vegard. “How is the script?” Bård asked.

 

Vegard nodded, “good,” he said, passing the sheets of paper to his younger brother.

 

“Obviously. I wrote it,” Bård responded with a smile.

 

“There’s a lot of…me,” he said slowly, “and Calle,” he added.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“And you wrote this?”

 

“Yep.”

“Who are you and what have you done to my brother?” Vegard asked, half laughing. His eyes travelled to the way that Bård was holding the script. His hands were visibly shaking, and his grip on the paper seemed so gentle that the slightest breeze would blow them out of his hands.

 

“I think I’ve gotten to the age where I’ve realised I’d like to hear less of my own voice,” Bård said with a smile. Vegard noticed him rub his eye slightly.

 

“Well, I’m not complaining,” Vegard said with a shrug, “so, I thought this segment that we have where we-“ There was a knock at the door, and Bård jumped, throwing the script across the room.

 

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, frustrated. Bård stood up slowly, scanning the room for the papers he’d thrown.

 

“Dress rehearsal in ten minutes, boys!” A voice called through the door.

 

Vegard’s stomach churned uncomfortably as he watched his brother bend down to the floor to pick up the script. Bård appeared to lose his balance, and found himself crumpled on the floor.

 

“Bård!” Vegard sprang from his seat, and pulled his brother up. He was much lighter than he realised, and he could feel him shaking as he held his arms.

 

“Get away from me!” Bård replied, pushing his brother away from him and pushing his hair out of his face.

 

Vegard watched in confusion as his brother appeared angrier than he’d ever seen him before. He kicked the chair he was sitting on before, causing it to fall over.

 

“Bård!” Vegard shouted. Hearing his name, Bård’s anger appeared to slip away. He turned to face his older brother, and there were tears in his eyes. Vegard looked at his brother with a confused expression on his face. “Is there something I don’t know?”

 

Bård snorted, “there’s a lot you don’t know, actually,” he responded.

 

“You know what I mean,” Vegard replied sharply. There definitely was something, he could feel it in his bones.

 

“Jesus Christ, I can’t even die without the world knowing,” Bård said, pushing his hair out of his face once more, and avoiding the gaze of his brother. “Can we talk about this later?” He asked, attempting to push past Vegard. “We’ve got a dress rehearsal.”

 

Vegard grabbed at his brother’s wrists without realising. “What did you just say?” He said, trying to ensure his voice was as even as he could make it. He looked up at his younger brother. His blue eyes were circled by dark hollows, and his skin almost seemed yellow. Hoe had he not noticed it already?

 

“Brain tumour,” Bård whispered. He looked towards the floor, desperate not to look at his big brother, and pulled his wrists out of Vegard’s hands. “Two weeks,” he added, with a break in his voice, opening the door, and uttering a barely audible, “sorry,” before closing it gently.

 

Vegard felt as though his legs were made of lead. This was his younger brother. There was no way what he’d just said was true. It must be some kind of sick joke, Vegard thought to himself. A joke, he told himself over and over in his mind. Just a joke and nothing more. How could it be anything else? He remembered as a child, Bård used to pretend to be a patient and Vegard would play a Doctor and cure him of some mystery illness. That’s what this was too. A game. Bård’s fucked up way of finding out if Vegard would care, if he could cure him. A knock came at the door, and Calle walked in, not waiting for a response. “Bård said you’d be here, you really need to get to the stage,” he said with a yawn. Vegard nodded, feeling as though he’d only half understood Calle’s words.

 

Somehow he managed to get his legs to cooperate with him so that he reached the stage. Rehearsal went quickly, and Vegard was sure he was just on auto-pilot, until the end of the rehearsal. Their final segment was supposed to consist of Bård playing the guitar, whilst Vegard improvised a song. As they sat at the desk, Bård let out a groan of frustration. “You do it,” he said, forcing the guitar on to Vegard, “my fingers don’t work.” Vegard complied, and strummed, looking at his younger brother. He was so frail, so colourless and something else… scared, maybe. As they reached the end of the rehearsal, Vegard couldn’t take his eyes from his brother. “Let me take you home,” Vegard said. It wasn’t a request but a demand.

 

Bård remained silent. The last words they had spoken had been during the rehearsal. “Don’t take me home,” Bård said, through chapped lips. Vegard nodded hesitantly.

 

“Where do you want to go?”

 

It was Bård’s turn to hesitate. “Anywhere,” he said, “maybe just go back for a coffee at yours?”

 

Vegard nodded. The journey was silent, neither brother knowing what to say to the other. Vegard kept his eyes determinedly on the road ahead. Pulling up in the car, and making their way inside, Helene called Vegard’s name. Steering Bård into the small sitting room, Vegard quickly said hello to his wife, before returning to the sitting room with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

 

Vegard watched Bård’s every move as he poured a glass of wine and passed it to him. Bård shook his head apologetically. “I’m taking too many painkillers for that,” he said.

 

Vegard nodded, and put both glasses and the bottle to the side, and joined his brother on the sofa. What was he supposed to say? He thought to himself. “How… long have you known?”

 

His younger brother sighed and rubbed his eyes once more. “Last week I got headaches, and Maria made me see someone. Diagnosed pretty much immediately,” he said frankly, as though he’d been rehearsing it. “Brain tumour,” he added quietly, looking at the floor.

 

Bård seemed glad of someone that he could talk to, so Vegard said little. He would have two more weeks if he was lucky. His kids knew but he didn’t want to tell anyone else unless he needed to. Vegard felt a stinging in his chest.

 

“I’m not important enough to tell?” Vegard asked, quietly. “What about Bjarte? Mum and Dad?”

 

Bård shook his head violently. “No, how could you even think that?” he said, a sob forcing it’s way out. “I’m dying. How the hell could I ever tell people that? My kids… they…” he trailed off, and wiped his eyes. Vegard was determined not to cry in front of his brother.

 

“If you had two weeks? If you could feel yourself disintegrating already? If you were in more pain than you’d even been in for your entire life, would you want people to know? Would you want them to know that you’re suffering and have their last memories of you being the days where you can hardly walk and talk through agony?”

 

“I need to be with my children,” he said suddenly. “I wouldn’t usually ask, but could you take me home?”

 

“Of course,” Vegard said without hesitation. He could feel his entire body shaking, as he watched his brother’s every move. “I was supposed to die before you, idiot,” he said, suddenly pulling Bård against him and hugging him tightly.

 

He could feel Bård’s heartbeat against him, mixed with haphazard sobs. He was so thin. He could smell Bård’s cologne- the same brand he’d worn since he was fifteen. “Sorry big brother, you know I don’t like playing by your rules.” He could feel Bård’s fingers digging into his back. Determined not to cry, he pulled away, and motioned towards the door, and drove his brother back to the home of his wife and children.

 

Vegard didn’t know how he got home. He found himself in the sitting room, having finished an entire bottle of wine on his own in the silence. He felt sick; which he felt good about; he could blame it on the wine. He heard a gentle knock at the door, and Helene entered the room. “Is… is everything okay?” She asked tentatively, noticing the smell of wine hanging in the room. “I heard Bård here earlier,” she added.

 

Vegard didn’t want to speak. He wouldn’t know what to say anyway. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes, hoping that Helene wouldn’t ask anything else.

 

“Did you have an argument?” Helene asked, sitting herself next to her husband, who remained steadfast. Helene sighed. “Did you drink all of this, Vegard?” She asked, picking up the bottle. Her voice was much less soft this time.

 

“Yes,” he sighed. “It’s been a hard day,” he mumbled into his hands. The alcohol was making him sway slightly. “If you must know, I found out that my brother is dying. I think I can justify the wine.” He said. He wanted to make his words sound blunt, but his mouth tripped on the word brother, and before he knew it, he could feel the tears burning in his eyes.

 

“What?” Helene responded, putting her arms around him. “Bård? How? Are you sure?”

 

Vegard rubbed at his eyes, begging for the tears to stop. “Brain… tumour…” he said, trying to find a regular breathing pattern that wasn’t there.

 

His wife rocked him slightly, holding him tight in her arms. He could feel her shaking slightly, as though she was shocked at the news. The alcohol seemed to be encouraging the tears, and soon, he gave up trying to prevent them. Eventually his sobs stopped, and he felt his wife plant a gentle kiss on his forehead. Vegard pulled away, and took a deep breath. His sinuses were clogged and his eyes were stinging, but he could feel that the alcohol had worn off.

 

The next day, Helene dropped him at the studio, where he was met by Bård. He seemed even thinner today, though Vegard wondered whether it was just that he noticed it now. He noticed when they were getting changed in the dressing room, Bård was struggling with closing the buttons on his suit jacket. His fingers fumbling.

 

“Here,” Vegard said, approaching his younger brother, and gesturing towards the suit.

 

“No,” Bård said quietly, swatting his brother’s hand away, and eventually putting the button through the hole. “I don’t need to be mothered, Vegard,” Bård said harshly.

 

Vegard nodded, looking his brother up and down. This was probably going to be the last episode of I Kveld Med Ylvis, he thought to himself. He felt as though there was a brick against his chest. This could be the last time that his bratty little brother took charge of their double-act.

 

“Vegard,” Bård said sharply, “please stop looking at me as though I’m already dead.”

 

Vegard looked at him with wide eyes. “I’m not,” he said. “I was just thinking, maybe you should say something to the produc-“

 

“Vegard, you’re always too rule abiding” he said with a sigh, “Can we just go with the flow for today? Please?” he added with a smile. “I want this episode to be the best we’ve ever done.”

 

Vegard nodded, holding the door open to the dressing room and watching his brother walk ahead of him. The filming went quickly. Most of it went without a hitch, and Vegard couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so hard.

 

After the filming, Calle joined the two brothers in the dressing room. It was almost a tradition that had been formed through so many years of filming the show. Vegard had almost forgotten that his brother was ill. The makeup easily hid his dark eyes and ashy skin, and the adrenaline seemed to have given him a certain amount of energy.

 

Calle lay back on his seat and stretched dramatically, and at this moment, Bård turned to his brother.

 

“I told Mum, Dad and Bjarte last night. I called them. They’re coming over before…” Bård said quietly.

 

Vegard felt his happiness drain from him, and he glanced at Calle, whose attention seemed to have been caught.

 

Bård’s eyes wandered to Calle too. “I probably should tell you, too,” he said quietly, his voice cracking. It was almost unnoticeable, but somehow Vegard noticed it. Standing up, he put his shoulder on his brother and smiled sadly.

 

“I think I’m going home. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said awkwardly.

 

“Is it that bad?” Calle asked with a laugh. His laugh dropped on looking at the faces of the two brothers.

 

“No,” Bård said as Vegard went to leave the room. “Wait a second,” Bård said, standing up and walking towards his older brother. Vegard didn’t know what to do as his brother pulled him in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around his brother’s slim frame and squeezed tightly. They never said goodbye like this.  “Thank you for today’s show. It was perfect,” Bård added.

 

Calle scoffed. “Gay,” he said, laughing to himself awkwardly.

 

“See you, little brother,” Vegard said, determined to keep a smile on his face.

 

“I certainly hope so,” he said, watching his older brother leave the room.

 

Days passed, and before a week had passed, Bård’s state had deteriorated significantly. Vegard had spent almost all of his time by his brother’s side. Bård’s speech began disappearing randomly, and he could hardly hide the constant pain he was in. Sometimes, the pain would become too much, and he would cry for hours. Bård’s wife was there whenever she could be, though she tried to ensure that the children’s lives didn’t revolve around Bård. He had made her promise that they wouldn’t see him dying and in pain, and she found herself agreeing. Calle came often, reminiscing with Bård over their time at school together. Their parents and brother were there as often as they could be, but Vegard couldn’t find it in himself to leave his side for more than a few moments.

 

By keeping his eyes on him, he couldn’t see how quickly he was deteriorating. He only seemed to notice it when he’d been sleeping for more than a few hours. He didn’t want to see it. He couldn’t leave Bård alone. He owed him so much. He’d been there at the start… He wanted to be there at the end.

 

“Vegard,” Bård whispered through chapped lips one night. Vegard nodded in the light, and stood over him, making sure he could look him in the eyes. Bård had been sleeping for longer than he usually would. “I… can’t hold on,” he said, louder than he’d intended. “It’s too much,” he gasped, tears forming in his eyes. Vegard felt his jaw twitching, tears threatening to escape for the first time in a few days.

“I… what can I do?” Vegard asked; his voice as small as a child’s.

 

“I’ve been saving painkillers up, but I can’t reach my mou… mouth,” he slurred slightly.

 

“Bård…” Vegard looked into his brother’s eyes. They were much duller than he’d ever seen them, “I can’t… I… why me?” He could feel his body shaking.

 

Bård gasped slightly, and closed his eyes for a second. “Do I really have to say? There’s nobody else. There never was. I always said I’d trust you with my life, didn’t I?”

 

Vegard blinked the tears that were clouding his vision away, and saw that Bård was in tears too. Gently he wiped his brother’s eyes. “This is completely opposite to trusting me with your life,” he said, laughing through his tears.

 

“Typical Vegard,” Bård said with a half-smile.

 

“Where are they?” Vegard asked. He asked, forcing the words out of his mouth. It was this or watch his brother in even more pain.

 

“In the drawer to my left,” Bård said quietly.

 

Vegard pulled out the small pink pills with shaking hands. “Can we wait for the morning?” He asked quietly.

 

Vegard was sure he heard Bård laugh slightly as he said, “now’s your chance to confess all of the horrible things you’ve secretly done to me,” he said.

 

Vegard smiled sadly. “Why do I feel like you have more to confess?”

 

The two spent the night talking about anything and everything, and Bård listened contently as Vegard taught him the theory of flying an aeroplane.

 

“I should have listened to you sooner,” Bård said as light began to break through the window. “Flying sounds easy. I’d definitely be a better pilot than you,” he said.

 

Vegard laughed sadly, knowing what was to come.

 

“I think it’s time to go,” Bård said with a sob.

 

“No.”

 

“Please.”

 

“But you can’t go. I need you,” Vegard said, fighting the tears running down his face.

 

“My big brother. Tell Maria and the children I love them. Tell Mum and Dad and Bjarte too.”

 

Vegard nodded. “I’m so proud of you, little brother,” he said, pushing a dark blonde streak of hair away from Bård’s forehead.

 

“Thank you for being my big brother and looking after me. I’ve had the best life and it’s all because of you.” He said, coughing. “But please,” Bård added. He didn’t want to make Bård beg for this. With violently shaking hands, he dropped the pills into his brother’s warm mouth, and watched as he swallowed them in one.

 

They began working much quicker than Vegard had expected, and he could see his brother becoming drowsy before his eyes. “Bård!” Vegard exclaimed desperately, pulling his brother’s head to rest against his.

 

“Vegard,” Bård said, sluggishly.

 

“I love you,” Vegard whispered.

 

“I’m scared Vegard,” Bård whispered as though he hadn’t heard his brother. Vegard kissed his forehead, and allowed his tears to fall as he rocked his brother. “Vegard, I love you too,” he whispered quickly as though he’d only just heard his brother’s words.

 

Vegard didn’t know when his brother finally went, but Vegard was greeted by Maria with a pained sob at five in the morning, and that was when he realised it was over, his brother was gone from him and he felt numb.

 

 I Kveld Med Ylvis was put on a 4 month hiatus. The funeral passed, and Vegard found himself visiting the place that Bård was buried in almost every day. It was a nice place, considering. He always made sure to update his brother on his life. Because life does go on, Vegard quickly realised.

 

“I feel as if the world should stop because you have” he told the minimalistic grave stone in the small cemetery, many months later. “But it doesn’t. I suppose you would have been annoyed with me if I didn’t move on,” Vegard mused. “But, Calle and I are hosting a new show tonight. It’s I Kveld Med Ylvis, but without the Ylvis part, I suppose,” he said wiping a tear from his eyes. “Wish me luck,” he said quietly, nodding at the stone, before leaving for the studio.

 

Everyone who worked at the studio seemed to be giving him half hearted smiles, he noticed. Calle greeted him with what seemed to be a genuine smile, and even a hug, which took Vegard by surprise. He made sure that Calle was the object of his attention. Calle didn’t want sympathy for losing his friend. He knew how Vegard felt, and together, they pushed their way through. 

**Author's Note:**

> wow i hope this was okay i kind of made myself a little sad here 
> 
> the title of this story is a reference to the Kate Miller Heidke song "Last Day On Earth" which was kind of an inspiration for this fic, if you're interested


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